opinion

Former Apple design chief Jony Ive famously prioritized sleek aesthetics over almost everything else, and there was widespread agreement that he sometimes took this a little too far.

However, his long-term vision of the future of the iPhone as a single slab of glass has persisted beyond his tenure, and a new post does seem to present a persuasive view of what we might expect from a 20th Anniversary iPhone next year …

A report yesterday suggested that we may be seeing a succession of Apple Ultra products, including the upcoming folding iPhone and an M6-powered MacBook. So far, of course, we’ve only seen the branding used for an Apple Watch.

It may potentially be pointing to a new tier of Apple products across almost the company’s entire range of devices, and to me that would make sense for both the company and its customers …

The spacesuits worn by the Artemis II crew during their moon mission have a feature completely new to space missions – an iPhone. Each has a pocket containing an iPhone 17 Pro Max.

The iPhone had to pass a whole bank of safety tests in order to be approved for the mission – but that preparation was totally worthwhile …

I’ve just argued that the MacBook Neo offers phenomenal value for money and is the machine I expect to recommend to a great many people.

However, it of course won’t be suitable for everyone. I think a quick glance at the specs would rapidly rule it out for videographers, but there is one compromise that means it’s not a good choice for photographers either …

As expected, Apple has today announced the new iPhone 17e with some worthwhile upgrades over its predecessor.

The new model gets full support for MagSafe wireless charging and storage has been doubled to 256GB for the same price. There is, however, one very surprising thing about the upgrade …

Apple’s low-cost MacBook has been a long time coming, but it now seems clear that we can expect it to be launched in the first week of March.

Apple has a special event taking place on March 4, but a subsequent report says that this will not include a keynote presentation. Instead, it says we can expect a series of press releases along the lines of the ones we saw back in 2024 …

The long-awaited low-cost MacBook powered by an A18 Pro chip is now expected to launch on March 4. It will reportedly be priced somewhere around $700, making it significantly cheaper than an entry-level MacBook Air.

Given that the upcoming machine is likely to meet the needs of a great many of those who currently opt for the MacBook Air, it could cannibalize a lot of sales. One possible solution to this is to use the strategy Apple once adopted with the iBook and Powerbook lineups …

One of the more persistent and long-standing Apple rumors has been the launch of new AirPods models with built-in cameras. Another leaker added their support for this idea just yesterday.

Exactly what role these cameras would perform has been the subject of much speculation, with some suggesting they will be used to support Apple Intelligence visual features. While that is certainly possible, I can’t help wondering whether the reports point to support for hand gestures similar to those used with Vision Pro …

A report yesterday said that we will see a Siri chatbot as part of iOS 27, despite the company previously dismissing this idea.

If accurate, this will see the company adopt a two-stage strategy to finally giving the new Siri the smarts it has long lacked …

Yesterday brought a surprising report about the development of an Apple pin, which The Information likened to the mysterious and as-yet-unreleased AI hardware device designed by Jony Ive.

I have a pretty strong suspicion about what the Apple pin is, and I’m very confident indeed that I know what it isn’t …

Apple yesterday confirmed reports that it was partnering with Google’s Gemini to provide the AI features for Siri and more.

The primary reason for the announcement couldn’t have been made any clearer by the way the company chose to release the news …

Apple has frequently used small variations on the same one-sentence justification when giving in to government demands that conflict with the company’s stated values: “Apple complies with the law in each of the countries in which it operates.”

However, there are occasions on which the company has instead chosen to stand up to unreasonable government demands, and we yesterday saw the latest (and highly successful) example …

I said only recently that it’s getting harder and harder to believe Apple can deliver on the new Siri. The company’s backtracking on announcements coupled to very vague statements on revised timings were certainly not making it easy to imagine that the new intelligent assistant will deliver.

I’m not yet ready to do my own U-turn on this, and my skepticism still very much remains, but there have at least been a couple of encouraging signs in the last few days …

The latest version of the Oura smart ring app provides an improved and simplified view of key health information.

I’ve argued before that Apple could learn some lessons from Oura, and I think this is even more true today – here’s why …

Next year’s MacBook Pro is expected to be a significant upgrade on the current model, with the headline believed to be a total redesign that’s both thinner and lighter.

The rumors include three specific features, and I got a chance to preview all of them thanks to an early chance to try a Windows laptop going on sale later this month …

Once upon a time, there was just a single iPhone. Today, things are rather more complicated, with a choice of four new models plus two older ones remaining on sale directly from Apple.

Next year may see the most fragmented iPhone lineup we have ever seen in the company’s history – and that could be bad news for some of us …

While Apple first started supporting eSIMs back in 2018, it’s only this year that it has taken full advantage of the technology.

For the first time, Apple is using the space previously occupied by an insertable SIM card slot for additional battery capacity …

Ming-Ching Kuo today suggested that we can expect a touchscreen MacBook Pro to go into production in late 2026. This is the latest in a years-long string of rumors that Apple is working on such a device.

The company has been testing prototypes since at least 2008, but has consistently dismissed the idea of launching one. However, I do tend to believe the latest report …

If you’ve just installed iOS 26, the first thing you will, of course, have noticed is the new Liquid Glass user interface. This has proved a somewhat polarizing feature, with some developers arguing it’s not yet ready for primetime.

It certainly takes some getting used to, but overall I’m a fan, and I particularly like some of the small but notable changes …

Apple is sometimes accused of deliberately withholding new features from older devices for no good reason. For example, eyebrows were raised when dual capture video recording was restricted to the iPhone 17 when the same feature has been supported by third-party apps all the way back to the iPhone 11, so is clearly nothing to do with hardware capabilities.

When it comes to the latest health features, however, the company is wisely taking a far more inclusive approach …

Apple’s hardware design chief said yesterday the company knew it would be hard for some to choose between the new iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro or Pro Max.

That isn’t true for everyone, of course. For some, the decision will be very straightforward – but I can see how it could be tricky for others …